Shattered Reflections
by Shondrial-Amonte
Summary: Well...this is MY verison of what happened in Chichiri's past...and who exactly this "Koran" was! It obviously takes place before any of the other Seishi are introduced (same goes for Miaka and Yui)...
1. Default Chapter

"Hey, Mom! I'll be at the Asian Market, okay!" Kaitlin inquired as she walked in the opposite direction of her mother and sister.

"As long as you're extra careful! And don't let those people talk you into buying any junk…" her mother cautioned. Kaitlin's sister stuck out her bottom lip, "I wanna go with Kaitlin!" she whined. Their mother sighed, "Kaitlin! Let Diana come, too!"

"But Mom!" Kaitlin was tired of having to chaperone her 10-year-old sister…

"Don't argue with me! Just take her!"

"Fine!" Kaitlin turned sharply on her heels and began once again in the direction of the Asian Market, ignoring her new companion.

"Yay!" cried Diana as she ran after her big sister.

"Meet me at Café du Monde at three o'clock! _No later_!" called the mother of the two young girls.

"Okay! They replied in unison.

Kaitlin and Diana loved New Orleans. They came as often as they could, which was pretty often considering their father went to meetings nearly every month there. Every time they came they were amazed at all the wonderful sights to see. And there was always something new! This time the Asian Market was set up for the week! When she was seven, Kaitlin's father had shown her a pair of samurai swords he had brought back from Japan during his service in the Navy. Kaitlin has been infatuated with anything oriental ever since… (Diana was interested in Asian things as well… "because her big sister liked them.")

"You better not ask me to buy you anything, 'cuz I only have twenty bucks…" Kaitlin snapped as they walked down the surprisingly empty streets of Downtown New Orleans.

"I have my own money…" Diana smiled as she pulled out her wallet and showed Kaitlin about fifty-seven dollars. The older sister scowled at the younger for having so much more money than her. "Whatever…" she said, quickening her pace.

"Wait up!" shrieked Diana trying to catch up with her again. She stopped short and let out a small gasp of amazement. "It's so cool!" She breathed; eyes wide. Kaitlin nodded in response. The girls were now standing about three hundred feet from a fabulous open air market. The stands and people all were one Asian country or another. There were vegetable stands and jewelry stands along with clothing and weaponry stands. First they went to a Japanese food stand and bought some drinks and a box of something called 'Pocky' to share. They also looked at a few other booths, such as one selling Korean weapons and a Mandarin clothing stall. Diana then wanted to look at a kiosk that sold ceramic dolls of all sizes, dressed in kimonos and other traditional Chinese clothes.

"They're all so pretty!" she squealed eagerly. "Which one should I get!" Diana looked to Kaitlin for advice.

"Well, you should figure out how much they cost first." She responded earnestly. A small Chinese woman no younger than sixty appeared behind the small table where the dolls were displayed. "Dese ova here are thirty-five dolla, and those fifty dolla…" she informed with a toothy smile, which wasn't saying too much considering the lady had maybe half of her teeth still in tacked.

"See Diana? They're a bit too expensive. Let's keep looking, okay?" Kaitlin took her sister's hand. She pulled it back immediately.

"What about this one!" Diana picked up a small, elegant girl wearing a fiery red gown and gorgeous jewelry and showed it to the lady.

"Oh! Dat special doll! **_Suzaku no Miko_** vera impo'tant!" the elderly woman seemed almost hesitant that Diana had chosen that doll…which made Kaitlin interested…

"Let me see it." Kaitlin held out her hand to Diana. She placed the petite figure in her sister's palm. "A **_Suzaku_** is some kind of bird…. I think…" Kaitlin explained to Diana softly as she examined the doll carefully. It's fine ebony hair was done up in so many twists and braids that it was almost impossible to tell exactly how long it's hair was, and the make-up painted on its face was so precise…and the clothes…oh, the silken clothes were dyed so many bright shades of red and orange that they seemed to be made of fire itself… _it's a shame really…she is so beautiful…_

The Chinese store-owner smiled at Kaitlin's interest in the doll. "Foh you, **_Suzaku no Miko_** only twenty-five dolla!" Diana's eyes lit up, "Wow! I can buy that! Please Kaitlin!" Kaitlin continued to stare at the doll, thinking…

"I've seen better dolls that this for less money!" she lied, "Make it fifteen dollars!" Kaitlin's face was stern as she made eye contact with the old bat, whose eyes sparkled as she returned Kaitlin's gaze.

"You specia gur! Vera st'on. Twenty-five and I 'ive you specia book! Specia book for specia gur!" The woman beamed as she held out an extremely old book to Kaitlin. She took and inspected it just as she had the doll. The book was thin, and it had a faded red color to its covers. Its binding was held together with sort of now brownish twine and the pages looked to be brittle from age, but not damaged. The book was in extremely good condition, considering its age, of course. Kaitlin flipped through its pages carefully: the entire thing was written in Chinese calligraphy.

"Come on, Kait! Let's buy them, please!" Diana persuaded eagerly.

Kaitlin looked at the book and furled her brow, "What's the title of this book?" she asked.

"**_Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho_**…" the small woman replied coolly.

Kaitlin sighed, "And in English?"

The woman's eyes laughed at Kaitlin, "The Universe of the Four Gods."

Kaitlin let out another sigh; she just couldn't help but be intrigued by not only the book, but the doll as well… "Fine." She pulled out a ten dollar bill from her jeans' pocket and handed it to Diana, "Here, I'll pay for the book… I know you have fifteen bucks for the doll."

Diana beamed as she immediately grabbed a ten and a five from her purse and handed them, as well as Kaitlin's ten, to the woman grinning that toothy grin behind the counter. She bowed slightly as she spoke; "Tank you vera much. I sure you be p'eased with **_'Shi Jin Ten Chi Sho'_** and **_Suzaku no Miko_**!"

Kaitlin bowed back out of courtesy, "No problem! I'm sure I'll have fun translating this. We should get going though…Our mother is expecting us."

"Bye! Thank you!" Diana waved as she trailed behind Kaitlin once again. The old woman bowed once more, still smiling to herself, "You are welcome li'l one," she replied softly. "An' I wish good luck to you on your adventu', youn' Kaitrin…" with those words the strange Chinese woman packed up her little shop and left New Orleans…


	2. Family Feuds

Eh... a REALLY short section for now... it was the best place to end things for now... Next one coming right up!

"You're late." Kaitlin and Diana's mother greeted them with a stern look and her hands on her hips.

Diana looked at her watch, "But it's only three oh two!"

"Yeah, and that's enough time to let your beignets get cold!" her eyes softened as she motioned to a plate full of the golden brown pastries covered in tons of powdered sugar.

Kaitlin's eyes lit up, "Yes! Beignets!" She immediately sat down at the table and picked up one of the French donuts.

"Yay!" Diana also dug into the mass of brown and white.

"Gosh, these are good! Thanks, Mom!" Kaitlin took a bite of her second beignet. Powdered sugar fell onto Diana's shirt as she nodded in agreement. Mrs.Matthews laughed, "I'm glad you're enjoying them… I paid a whole eight dollars, _and_ I _even_ carried them to the table myself!" she joked.

The three females laughed together as they ate and talked about completely random things. Eventually they came to their purchases of the day…

"Look what I got at the Asian Market, Mommy!" Diana held up the doll she had made such a fuss over not three hours earlier.

"Wow!" She replied, "She's really pretty. How much money did you spend on her?"

"Fifteen dollars!" Diana beamed, "And Kaitlin bought a book, too!"

Their mother turned her gaze to Kaitlin, "A book? What kind?"

Kaitlin thought for a second, "Actually, I'm not sure… It's in ancient Chinese." She pulled out the old book and looked at it. Her mother took notice to its age and wasn't too pleased. "Just how much did you pay for this old thing?"

"Only ten bucks!" Kaitlin said defensively, "Besides, I can buy what I want with _my_ money!" she quickly put the book back in her bag, which sat beside her at the table.

"But you can't even read it! Why bother buying something you can't get any us of!" Despite her mother's increasing temper, Kaitlin continued to defend herself and her purchase. "One; it's fascinating, considering its age, it's in great condition. The writing is _hand_ painted—_actually_, the _whole_ _book_ was hand made! Two; I wanted to use this book to teach myself Chinese calligraphy so I _could_ read it. And three; I paid the ten dollars for the book so Diana could get that doll for so cheap!" Kaitlin shot invisible daggers at her mother as she leaned back and crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest.

"I thought I told you not to let those Asians talk you into buying-"

"**_Junk_**! I _know_ mother! My book is not junk! Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not worth anything!"

Diana watched the whole spectacle in silence, knowing better than to say anything to either one of them.

Mrs.Matthews sighed, "We need to go…we'll discuss this further with your father after dinner tonight…"

"Whatever." Kaitlin picked up the remains of their snack, which wasn't much, and threw them away.

The walk to the hotel was deathly silent. There was, of course, the constant bustle of the rustic New Orleans streets, but between the three travelers, not a sound was made. They passed all sorts of little shops that sold things like local artwork or antique lapel pins… They passed performers on each corner; a brass quartet playing classic jazz tunes, a Jamaican acrobatic group balancing on four foot markers that lined the sidewalks, as well as the many artists and 'fortune tellers' that heavily populated the French Quarter, yet they remained mute.


End file.
